Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Jason says if I post this, everyone will hate me. I hope not! As a disclaimer: I didn't have anyone specific in mind while writing this, Chances are I do find most of the things you post relatively interesting and appreciate you sharing them, and I do admit to being guilty of some of these myself.

As lame as it might be, typically Facebook happens to be a big part of most of our lives. What we choose to post in a way affects other people on our friends list. In fact facebook is often my only link to old friends because I don't have my own phone. In general it would do everyone some good to THINK before sharing things. It's one thing if you are actually typing out statuses about your own life, original, personal things.. that is not what I am ranting about here. What I am talking about is do we really need to see 15 auto-correct jokes in a row? Do you really need to share 20 pictures of pretty flowers and rainbows every single day? 10 relatable "quotes" every day??? Just pick your FAVORITE and share ONE! ONE!!!!!!! If we like it, we can look into it more ourselves. I am glad that you all share things. I just think we should post in moderation. and at least try to talk about whats actually going on our own lives more instead of just reposting stupid images all day long. Sometimes I see people saying snarky stuff like "if you dont like what you see, delete me." But really, I'm friends with you for a reason, and I don't want to unfriend you if I can avoid it. I don't know about you, but I only read so far back in my news feed for stuff, and sometimes I will miss interesting things people say because my feed was too full of stupid. Just do us all a favor and try to be a little discerning about what you post, because it takes up space and I hate to break it to you, but not everyone cares about what you care about. I know not everyone is interested in what I post, so thats why I just TRY TO POST LIKE ONCE OR TWICE A DAY. We are all very different people, and its impossible to please everyone, but MODERATION is the magic word here. .

What gets on my nerves is when people seem to think it's their job to post funny or relatable sayings/ pictures ALL DAY LONG. Just because someone "liked" something you shared, doesn't mean you should let it go to your head and start posting crap like crazy. While I like funny stuff just as much as the next person, people still should exercise discretion instead of posting EVERYTHING THEY EVEN MILDLY LIKE. Do you see people like or comment on them often? if not, its a sign you could stand to cut back. In fact most of the stuff I see people posting, I've ALREADY seen somewhere else multiple times. and it stopped being funny or interesting after the first time I read it. There are entire websites dedicated to that, you don't need to turn my facebook wall into one of them. In fact a lot of it is just obnoxious,and sometimes even mean. Before you hit the share button, ASK YOURSELF Is this REALLY that great? and how many other things have I shared today?ANYTHING can get annoying if you post it often enough and I don't like having to unsubscribe from my friend's posts just because they can't seem to control their impulses to share EVERYTHING.

Another pet peeve of mine (even if I have done this before) is when people post too vague things about how upset they are, or cryptic one word statuses, without explaining what they are referring to. What good does this do? I realize it's just a need you feel to express yourself without giving away a secret, but in the end saying "GRRRRR" is not going to make you feel any more understood, and since it goes without being understood by everyone reading it except you, it's simply taking up space in our feed. If you really need someone to reach out to you, be more specific. if you are upset, either keep it to yourself, message someone, or explain yourself! If you really HAVE to be mysterious, at least be willing to kindly explain when someone asks you what you're talking about. Otherwise you are just being a tease.

I hate status updates that try to guilt you into reposting because if you don't you are a BAD PERSON. Like "REPOST IF YOU ARE AGAINST ANIMAL ABUSE! or REPOST IF YOU HATE CANCER! Only 3 percent will repost, will you?"

yeah cause everyone that doesn't repost must enjoy seal clubbing in their spare time. You do realize no animals are getting saved because you reposted that, right? AND everyone is already in agreement with you anyway? and please don't tell me you think the random percentages are real.. Or stuff like this that I see people share far too often:

are you freakin' kidding me? This is the facebook equivalent of a chain letter and I doubt God wants to be dragged into it.

Or the ones that say "repost if you can read this" and the letters are backwards or upside down or with the letters in the words scrambled, as if only super smart people can read them. I facepalm every time I see those. Sorry to burst your bubble but, EVERYONE can read it. or "Repost if you find the four leaf clover!" when the photo is already zoomed on and centered on the four leaf clover. ugh. -_-

Or what about that thing when women post things in code like where we like to put our purse or what country we are supposedly visiting, to confuse people who aren't in on the joke,which is admittedly mildy amusing, except that it's passed around in the name of "breast cancer awareness".

not to mention...

I understand people don't mean any harm. and generally these sort of things would not bother me, the problem is that I see them over and over and over again and after a while silly things begin to wear on me.

Another thing that gets to me is when people post snarky things about politics, or making fun of other people's beliefs. I see political posts all the time and I just think to myself "SO OBNOXIOUS!" I know you believe you are right without a doubt, but the problem is there are other people with different beliefs, that ALSO believe they are JUST AS RIGHT. There are two sides to every story, and you don't know everything. so stop being so cocky. It's one thing if you are just promoting a candidate or a religion you support, just do it without being negative.

Wouldn't it be better if people would focus on making FB a pleasant site to visit? I've found that it's really best to avoid posting about controversial things people feel really strongly about because in the end no one really wins. it just pisses people off and makes things tense. For every annoyed person that is debating with you over your post, there's a ton more annoyed people out there biting their tongues that you are unaware of because they prefer to keep the peace or just despise debating in general. I'm not saying debate is unhealthy, just that I wish you didn't try to have them in my facebook feed. Why not post it on your blog or a forum or somewhere else or just message your like minded friends instead. Heck, you can even advertise by posting "go to this link to see what I have to say about politics if you want!" So, those of us that didn't sign up for it, don't have to see it.(Just like none of you were forced to read this obnoxious rant of mine. You chose to click the link.) I just want to be your FB friend, without resenting you, or feeling like my beliefs are being attacked. Ok?

Lastly, PLEASE, for the love of EVERYTHING, stop bombarding us poor unsuspecting people with pictures of abused, cancerous, sick or starving children and animals!! PLEASE! I do not want to see a baby with a gun to its head or an animal that has been brutally murdered, etc. YES it is horrible and unjust but what good do you think you are doing by sharing it?? You are just making sensitive people like me SICK. I know your heart is in the right place, but it's actually just RUDE to upset people like that for no good reason. I know that a lot of the photos/ stories are actually hoaxes or just really old or more importantly,do not do any good to share. If it's a cause you truly feel strongly about, surely you can think of a better way to make a difference than simply sharing a photo. Please stop with the upsetting pictures.